Ukip councillor Donna Edmunds says she regrets claiming businesses should be able to ban gay people

Libertarian: Donna Edmunds said the state should not intervene with businesses choosing who to serve

A Ukip councillor who claimed businesses should be allowed to refuse to serve gay people has said she "regrets" her comments - but stopped short of issuing an apology.

Donna Edmunds, an MEP candidate for the south east and councillor in East Sussex, said she believes governments should not impose laws requiring businesses to serve religious groups or people of a certain sexuality.

"I believe that all business owners, Christian, Muslim, gay, straight, should be allowed to withhold their services from whomever that choose whenever they choose," she said.

When asked by her local paper The Argus to clarify her remarks, she said: "I'm a libertarian so I don’t think the state should have a role on who business owners serve.

“I wouldn’t refuse to serve gay people. I’m not saying their position is a correct one. I’m saying they should be free to make that choice themselves.”

Edmunds was met with a barrage of criticism for the comments, with her Lib Dem MEP opponent Giles Goodall issuing a statement saying: "Yet again UKIP have shown that
they are the nasty party when it comes to rights for women and LGBT people.

"We
now have less than three months to stop UKIP from winning the European
elections. Liberal Democrats, as the Party of In, will be leading that fight
and standing up for an open, tolerant society."

Edmunds later said she hoped her remarks had not caused any "embarrassment" for her party, but stopped short of issuing a full apology.

"I regret what I wrote and can
see how an essentially libertarian stance could be broadly misinterpreted," she said.

"I in no
way endorse any form of discrimination. I believe in cutting red tape for
business and I also strongly believe in an individual’s personal and religious
freedoms, but I stand against any form of prejudice."